College Blog

We started the College Blog as a way to highlight and discuss topical issues pertinent to physiotherapists, patients and others. In the spirit of transparency, we encouraged open debate and constructive criticism with comments in an open format. For this to be effective, comments need to remain professional and respectful.

Unfortunately, one individual has taken things too far by posting numerous comments that were inappropriate and abusive towards College staff.

As a result, we have removed the open comment feature on the College Blog and Case of the Month posts. Individuals may still submit comments, however they will be reviewed by College staff and any comments that are irrelevant and/or contain inappropriate or abusive language will not be published.

Did You Make a New Year’s Resolution to Lose Weight this Year?

Jan 22, 2018

Guest Blogger:

Anita Ashton
Associate Registrar Professional Conduct & Registration
College of Physiotherapists of Ontario

I did…but I am not going to a physiotherapist to help me achieve this goal, are you? Or are your patients or clients? As a new year begins people re-evaluate their fitness goals and many will return to the gym in January.

It is NOT a physiotherapist’s job to help people get in shape and lose weight.

Over the last year, undercover patients have visited a number of Ontario practices where they asked about losing weight. They had no other health condition or difficulty with movement, but the PT assessing them worked really hard to find a problem and then suggested that they needed to develop their core strength (I mean, who doesn’t?) and this was the start of the “free personal training program” which was invoiced to insurance companies as physiotherapy.

Are you shocked?

If this is you, don’t be fooled into thinking that you are providing physiotherapy when what you are really doing is providing your name and registration number to a facility so they can bill personal training as physiotherapy.

This is insurance fraud and you risk losing your licence to practice as a PT if you engage in this kind of practice.

Insurance companies are calling us to tell us about these practices, as are patients and health care providers. We’ve heard from newer PTs who have called the College seeking advice when they started a new job with an employer that asked them to do this.

So are you really practicing physiotherapy?

Start 2018 off right and reflect on your current practices:

Are you on contract with a company which has an agreement to provide “physiotherapy” in a fitness facility?

Are you including subjective and objective measures in your assessment?

Are you just doing assessments?

Have you met the PTAs that you will be working with?

Are they starting “treatment” before you have even done an assessment?

Do they actually carry out the treatment plan that you set?

How do you monitor your patient’s progress?

Is the treatment plan tailored to the insurance coverage available?

Is the treatment provided clinically indicated and within your scope?

Are you reviewing the invoices that are being produced using your name and registration number?

Is the name of the physiotherapist assistant you work with on the invoice?

Contact the Practice Advisor

If these questions have caused you to stop and consider the care you are providing, get in touch with the Practice Advisor and talk it through. Contact the Practice Advisor by email at practiceadvice@collegept.org or by calling 647-484-8800 or 1-800-583-5885.